George RR Martin has been leaving us hanging for a new installment in the A Song Of Ice And Fire series since 2011, when he released A Dance With Dragons.
This meant that the show based on the books – a little indie production called Game Of Thrones, you probably haven’t heard of it – has leapfrogged past George’s writings.
And the author admits that he wishes he’d finished his books sooner so he knew what would be happening in the season 8 finale.
Honestly, same.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the 70-year-old confessed he has ‘mixed feelings’ about Game Of Thrones coming to an end, saying: ‘It’s been an incredible ride. And almost all of it has been great.
‘Obviously, I wished I finished these books sooner so the show hadn’t gotten ahead of me. I never anticipated that.’
A Dance With Dragons ended with the cliffhanger of Jon Snow’s murder, a death that capped off season five of the series back in 2015. So the epic fantasy saga will find its first official ending on HBO, and not in the literary series which began in 1996.
Martin is still working on his sixth novel The Winds Of Winter, and plans to wrap up the series with A Dream Of Spring.
However, this will likely have a much different ending to what we see on HBO, with the eighth and final season kicking off on 14 April.
And the author is just as in the dark as we are about the plot… because he hasn’t read the scripts.
He said: ‘I haven’t read the [final-season] scripts and haven’t been able to visit the set because I’ve been working on Winds.
‘I know some of the things. But there’s a lot of minor-character [arcs] they’ll be coming up with on their own. And, of course, they passed me several years ago. There may be important discrepancies.’
While we know nothing (Jon Snow) about who will end up on the Iron Throne, the first trailer for the final series has given us plenty of theories.
Game Of Thrones season eight begins on 14 April on HBO and Sky Atlantic.
Got a showbiz story?
If you’ve got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: The Sinner season 3 confirmed with Will & Grace star Matt Bomer taking lead role
